


From the Shadows

by The_Plaid_Slytherin



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Javert Lives, M/M, Post-Canon, Redemption, Travel, Trick or Treat 2016
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-31
Updated: 2016-10-31
Packaged: 2018-08-27 02:49:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8384344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Plaid_Slytherin/pseuds/The_Plaid_Slytherin
Summary: Valjean and Javert take a trip and confront their pasts.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Esteliel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Esteliel/gifts).



> Happy Halloween! You had so many awesome prompts that it was hard to choose one. I hope you enjoy this. :)

Valjean had been resistant to the idea of going away but Cosette had insisted and he had ultimately been unable to refuse. The sea breeze was welcome after the long coach ride and he paused to take in a deep breath while Javert was negotiating the removal of their baggage from the coach. 

It was a curious choice for a holiday—it was a picturesque seaside village, which had probably been Cosette's reasoning, but it was not far from Toulon, the thought of which was prominent in Valjean's mind. He supposed the same to be true for Javert, though he said nothing of it as they made their way through the narrow streets to the lodgings she had secured for them.

Theirs was a small room at the top of the comfortable little white-washed house. The window overlooked the street, and Valjean liked it for more reasons than just the privacy and the decently-sized bed. It was cozy, and he thought he might enjoy seeing the people pass below while they rested of an afternoon.

Supper was served in the common room, and they went out after, to see the sun set over the sea. Javert did not speak as he stood beside Valjean, his hands resting on the seawall. 

"You have been quiet, my friend," Valjean observed. 

Javert shrugged one shoulder, as though he was trying to knock free something unpleasant. "I have had nothing in particular to say."

Valjean smiled. "I certainly would not ask you to say more than was necessary, but your mind has seemed occupied."

"We are not far from Toulon." Javert's quick answer betrayed the reason for his silence. "Surely you have noticed that."

Valjean nodded. "I thought of it when I first knew where this place was." 

Javert lifted his gaze to the horizon. The shadows were growing longer as the sun sank, casting the sky in pinks and purples. Valjean must have seen many such sunsets from Toulon, but he did not remember the colors. 

"We have not spoken of those days."

"Must we?" The breeze had picked up again and it felt almost cleansing, as though it was blowing away the clouds of the past that hung over them. He and Javert had already begun their second start together in Paris, but perhaps they could not really begin again unless they came to this place and confronted that which loomed between them.

Valjean judged the shadows deep enough that he could reach for Javert's hand without being detected by passersby. "I think we are owed a clean slate."

Only then did Javert raise his eyes to meet Valjean's. "Do you really?"

"Javert, if I thought otherwise, I had amble opportunity to exact my revenge. As I might well have done at another time, years ago. But I have come to realize we might be well-suited to each other and so I accept that all that passed between us before was only a prelude to this." He squeezed Javert's hand, his fingers now so used to how they fit together. This might have been understood; after all, they could hardly have gotten this far without it being implied. But perhaps the words were indeed necessary. 

Javert's hand relaxed in his. Maybe it was a certainty he had needed, for if Javert had ever had a certainty in his life, it was Valjean. 

"It might be so," Javert allowed. He released Valjean's hand, not as a rejection, but as an invitation. The sun had slipped out of sight. "There is certainly no one else with whom I might rather be." 

Valjean felt his lips curve into a smile. "Then I am more than happy to fill that void, Javert."

Javert's eyes burned with the same intensity as ever, but it did not bother Valjean to meet them now. He had nothing to hide from him, nothing at all, nor did Javert have anything to hide from him. "Shall we go back?"

Javert looked again at the sky as though he had just noticed it had gotten dark. "We should. It will all still be here in the morning."

"I would like that."

They set off together up the street, toward the lodging-house. Valjean's mind was already several steps ahead as he pictured the bed by the window. It would certainly serve their purposes well, he thought. They said nothing to each other as they climbed the stairs to their small room. All that they would need to say to each other would be said behind closed doors, between those sheets. 

Or, Valjean reflected, they would not need to say anything at all.


End file.
